Cycles
by Procne
Summary: In the absence of the Avatar, a young girl tries to master all the elements on her own. Accompanied by a disgruntled Waterbender, she travels the world, facing resistance from both the Spirit and the tangible realms on her quest for the elements.
1. Chapter 1

**This starts sometime during the hundred years Aang is in the iceberg. AKA, everyone's an OC. Tho' Bumi might make an appearance or two. You never know... **

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Meldi was in yet another heated argument with her teacher, though today, it was about something different. Her long black hair had fallen from its traditional not-so-tidy bun, and was dancing in patterns across her back and shoulders as she gestured violently. Water rose up and splashed other students halfway across the room – no one seemed to think this was odd or even slightly annoying. Sifu Brieca, however, looked murderous.

"Well, why not?" Meldi shouted. "They learned it from badger-moles, for crying out loud! Why can't I learn it from an Earthbender?"

"Only the Avatar can use multiple elements!" Brieca said, obviously struggling to keep any illusion of calm about her. Meldi scowled. That was the traditional response. The Avatar this, the Avatar that... It seemed ridiculous, to her. The Avatar didn't just wake up all-powerful one day. They were all just too scared to try. She told them so.

"The Avatar can use the elements because he is the spirit of the world incarnate! His past lives –"

"Teach him to use the other elements, right?" Meldi interrupted. "Is that what you were going to say?" Brieca didn't respond. "If he can learn from dead people, I should be able to learn from the living!"

"That's not how it works!" Brieca asserted. "And I'll hear nothing more of this, do you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am." They both knew it was a lie. They'd both said the same things when Meldi argued that girls should be allowed to fight alongside the men. Still, it would content the Waterbending master for a while. Indeed, she went about her teaching as though nothing had happened, drawling on about the art of healing, and demonstrating for a few of the younger girls. Sensing her teacher was adequately distracted, Meldi left, barely remembering to grab her jacket on the way out.

Stupid, that's what they were. Everyone was stupid, and they didn't want to admit she was smart. She was right, she knew it, she only wished she could prove it. Meldi imagined the Waterbenders at the South Pole were more reasonable; it was a little fantasy of hers that she would go there one day, and find people who understood her frustrations. It wouldn't amount to more than a dream, though. After the last few Fire Nation attacks, communications had been cut off entirely. They didn't even have contact with the Earth Nation, anymore! Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Meldi didn't really know where she was going, she just needed to keep walking. She bent ice under a few people's feet to make herself feel better. A few people looked around accusingly for the culprit, but most knew it was her right away. She got 'a good stern talking to' once or twice; everyone else contented themselves with glares. She could care less.

"Mel!" Her best friend Satano raced up to her, slipping a few times on ice that she had absolutely nothing to do with, and falling flat on his face at her feet because of ice she had everything to do with. He stood and dusted himself off, carefully replacing the headband that kept his sleek brown hair out of his face. It always amazed Meldi that he could wear things like that and not look like a girl; very few of the other boys had hair past their jaw line, and those that did wore it back, not down. "You're skipping class again," he scolded.

"So are you!" Meldi retorted.

"I'll have you know it let out early," he said indignantly. Meldi sighed. He was too straitlaced to skip, she should have guessed.

"Come on," she said, tugging on his sleeve. "You have to show me the whip again: I forgot how to do it."

"Mel!" he hissed. "Don't be so loud about it! I'm not supposed to be teaching you _anything_." Satano looked around nervously, as though even the snowmen could be listening. "Girls aren't supposed to fight..."

"And boys aren't supposed to heal," she finished. "Its their loss, really. You're one of the best healers –"  
"Shh!" he insisted loudly enough that he drew the attention of everyone around them. He looked at Meldi helplessly, shrinking back as though everyone intended to attack him. "Mel," he whimpered. "Do something..."

The instant Meldi grinned, Satano knew that had been the wrong thing to say. Things had a tendency to explode violently when she smiled like that. He threw his arms over his head for cover. Meldi kicked a pile of snow up into the air, which condensed into a set of perfectly round snowballs that she caught in her arms. A few of the brighter onlookers ran. The snowballs were as hard as rocks. She threw one into the air experimentally. More people shuffled away nervously. "Aw, you're no fun," she whined. She tossed all of them above her at once, where she bent them back to individual snowflakes again, creating a small flurry.

Satano looked up hesitantly. "Snow?" he said incredulously, catching a few flakes on his palm. "All of that lead up so you could make it snow?"

"My audience left," Meldi said bluntly. She punched him lightly on the arm. "Some brave warrior you are," she teased.

"Shut up..."

They headed for their training spot without any more disturbances, much to Meldi's annoyance. She paused as they crossed one of the bridges near the docks. The ships didn't go anywhere, nowadays, but they used to make runs to the Earth Kingdom for supplies and information. She'd contemplated stealing one, but the ships that could handle open water weren't the kind of thing even two Waterbenders could handle on their own. And that was assuming she got Satano's help. He made a face every time she suggested it. Stupid customs or not, he didn't want to leave the North Pole.

Meldi's eyes widened as she looked along the row of ships. "That's not one of ours," she said, pointing at what had to be an Earth Kingdom vessel.

"No, its not," Satano agreed. "So what is it – Mel, where are you going?" The confirmation was all she needed; in an instant she was darting down the spiral stairs to the ground below. With a sigh, Satano ran after her.

Meldi waved at one of the sailors on the deck. "Hey!" she called.

The sailor scowled. "Get off the docks, kid! We're castin' off at dawn, and we need to get this rig loaded up!" Indeed, crates were scattered across the dock, and a few men were dragging one up the gangplank.

Meldi smiled. He'd told her exactly what she needed to know, and she didn't even have to ask. She liked it when things were easy. "Sorry!" she yelled back. "Have a safe trip!"

"Yeah, whatever," he grumbled, waving her away absently.

She dashed happily back to the bridge, linking arms with a confused Satano and skipping up the stairs. She'd be on that ship tomorrow. Finally, she'd found a way out of this place.


	2. Chapter 2

Meldi wished she could talk to Satano about her plan as they split up to head home -- he was staring suspiciously at her out of the corner of his eye as he walked away -- but it was dangerous to even think loudly about what she was scheming, much less say it out loud. If even a whisper of this got back to her parents, she'd be locked in her room before she could blink. She couldn't help but smile at the thought that tomorrow, her parents would be worlds away.

An Earth Kingdom ship! She still couldn't believe it. Meldi dashed to her house, snatching paper and pencils from her room before darting out again. At least, that was the intention; she ran straight into her father on the way out. He was glaring. That was never a good sign.

Adopting her most innocent expression, she greeted him politely, trying to slip past him through the door. He blocked her easily. "You got in another argument with Master Brieca." Meldi winced. She could talk her way out of anything, except those rows.

She switched tactics, trying to look as guilty as possible. "I didn't mean to," she said meekly. Her father raised an eyebrow. "That is, I didn't mean for it to go so far. I was just saying –"

"That you can use all four elements?" the old man finished for her, his tone dripping acid. "You're sixteen; that's the sort of thing children claim. You were _trying_ to start an argument!" he accused. "She's threatened not to teach you anymore! Did you know that?"

"No," Meldi replied flatly. "Good riddance. It gives me more time to practice fighting, or spy on the boys' lessons. I don't need Brieca! Most of the girls there are half my age, besides."

It took both of them a moment to realize she'd said all of that out loud. Meldi cursed -- it wasn't like she could get in_ more_ trouble,

"_Fighting?_" her father repeated incredulously.

It was all downhill from there.

The argument grew heated, as arguments tend to, a whole lot of things happened at once, and suddenly, Meldi was locked in her room, glaring at the door as though it had personally offended her. She stomped around the small area, kicking things, because she knew the noise would annoy her father on the floor below. It wasn't like she couldn't get out – she'd done it hundreds, no, millions of times – but he would notice, and she'd be lucky to get away with just a grounding. As much as she hated to admit it, her father was a better Waterbender than her, at least when he was angry, and he was certainly angry now.

But the only thought that ran through her head was that the ship would be leaving without her.

She needed a plan, and soon. Meldi snatched greedily at every glimmer of hope she could think of, but threw them back when they proved to be just that: glimmers. Her choices were practically nonexistent, and there was no way she could recruit help from Satano when she was locked up here.

Oh, hell... Her one chance, and she blew it with a stupid little fight. All right, two stupid little fights. Fine, two stupid fights, three curse words, an outburst, and a few broken vases, but that was it! The point was, she'd lost her chance, and she got the distinct impression that the next time they saw a foreign ship up here, it'd be the Fire Navy, coming to take over.

Meldi couldn't help wondering if she could pass for a Firebender.

Loud knocking resonated through the house. _Who the heck...? _It was past dark. No one would show up, now. Meldi – having already broken the lock on her door earlier, as loudly as was humanly possible – inched the door open, just enough that she could see downstairs. She stomped across the room once more, just for good measure. Her father didn't seem to notice.

"Good evening, Satano." _What? _Meldi had to clamp a hand over her mouth to keep from asking the question out loud. Satano was out after sunset? And at _her _house? She wasn't sure if she should be flattered or concerned for her friend's mental health. He never left his house after dark. Never... "What can I do for you?"

"I need to talk to Meldi, sir, if that's all right."

"I'm afraid she can't talk to anyone, now," her father replied, with forced calmness. "Perhaps tomorrow –"

"Please sir," Satano interrupted, opening his hand to show the old man something. She couldn't see what it was, no matter how much she squinted. It looked round-ish. Her father stepped aside and gestured that she was upstairs, looking thoroughly surprised, and mildly pleased. Meldi shut her door hastily. What on earth just happened?

"Mel?" came her friend's voice from the other side. "Can you come out?"

"Yeah, sure." She didn't see why not. Considering the state of her room – not everything she'd kicked had been sturdy – it was probably safer outside, anyway. Snatching Satano's headband out of his hair, she hopped down the stairs. He seemed to take all this in stride, but when Meldi opened her mouth to ask what was going on, he shook his head sharply. Okaaaaay... First he breaks his self-enforced curfew, now he's keeping secrets. Something was terribly, terribly wrong. Even more worrying was her father, sitting at the table humming to himself. If they were working together to confuse the living daylights out of her, it was working.

Satano grabbed her wrist and dragged her outside, pausing to call, "We'll be right back, sir!" to her father, who waved cheerily at them.

"Who are you and what have you done with Satano?" Meldi asked, only half-joking, as soon as the door was shut.

He held a finger to his lips. "Your father's probably watching. We're going to walk a ways, I'll hand you something, you act surprised and happy, and he'll be off our backs, but until then, its best not to talk," he whispered.

"What?"

"Shh!"

"Don't you 'shh' m—"

"_Shh!_"

Meldi crossed her arms across her chest and walked alongside him. Her house was barely in sight when he turned to face her, blushing furiously.

"This means nothing," he said, pressing something round and flat into her palm. Meldi opened it, and gasped. The medallion for a betrothal necklace! Well that explained...something, she was sure, she just couldn't put her finger on what. "Act happy," Satano reminded her. She threw her arms around his neck, and hugged him, hoping that passed for happy in whatever twisted minds were watching them. If worse came to worse, it was as good a position as any to strangle him from.

"What the _hell, _Satano?" she muttered into his ear.

"In a minute." Somewhere in the distance, a door slammed. The two friends split apart as quickly as possible. He grabbed his headband from her, and the necklace, though the latter almost seemed an afterthought. "Sorry about that. We've got to hurry. The boat's leaving."

"Boat?" Meldi repeated, completely dumbfounded.

"The Earth Kingdom ship," Satano explained patiently.

All at once, events started to fit together in Meldi's mind. All of that had been an act to get her out of they house so they could get away from her father and onto the ship. It was so simple! But it didn't explain...

"You knew?"

"Of course," he sighed, shrugging as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I've known you forever, Mel. It was written all over your face when we left the docks. You were _skipping_," he said. He made the word sound like a crime. "They changed plans: the ship's leaving tonight. That's why we've got to hurry! It's leaving now, Mel."

"They what? You... It... How...?" Too many questions. "Run," she said simply, taking off at a full sprint for the docks. Satano was probably right behind her; she didn't bother to check.

The docks were completely bare, that was the first thing she noticed. The crates were all loaded onto ships – completely ruining Stowaway Plan 'A' – and all the gangplanks were up – which made Stowaway plans 'C' and 'F' considerably more difficult. There was always plan 'B' but...

"You run...too...bloody...fast," Satano wheezed, coming up beside her.

"You run too bloody slow."

"That you, sir?" someone called from the Earth Kingdom ship. Satano waved dismissively at the shadowy figure on deck. The man disappeared almost immediately. Before Meldi could get a word in, a makeshift gangplank was lowered quietly onto the ground in front of them.

"What's going on?" she asked, as soon as she had sufficiently gotten over her shock. A few men from on board were steadying the gangway, which looked as though it might break if she blew on it.

"I bought us passage on board," Satano answered smugly. "We're going to the Earth Kingdom."

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**Much love to my one reviewer! ) Reviews keep me going when it's late at night and I've run out of cookies.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, or any of its characters who aren't appearing in this fic. Meldi and Satano, however, are mine. Steal and die. (Brieca and Meldi's dad, on the other hand, you're welcome to.)**


	3. Chapter 3

It had all been a really strange dream, Meldi concluded, as she woke up the next morning. Her father had been happy, Satano had been sneaky, and everything worked out right. None of that ever happened. Ever. Life was hardly ever that kind to people, especially her.

But she wasn't in her own bed, and the floor was rocking gently beneath her. She was really on the ship.

Her stomach didn't appreciate the concept as much as the rest of her did.

Meldi ran above deck, barely making it to the rail before the contents of her stomach surfaced, and she heaved them over the side. She was suddenly very grateful she braided her hair at night; she didn't think she had the strength to hold it out of the way while she retched.

_"Isn't that the Waterbender girl?"_

_"Can't be. Waterbenders don't get seasick." _

_This one sure as hell does,_ Meldi thought bitterly, as her stomach lurched again. It was a ship; surely they had something for seasickness. But she was the only one leaning over the side, and these were probably seasoned sailors.

_"Think she's okay?"_

_"She doesn't _look _okay."_

Meldi raised a huge wave out of the sea threateningly; the gossiping crew was getting on her nerves. The ship pitched dangerously to one side as the water beneath it was suddenly displaced. She dropped it hastily, which only succeeded in making the ship rock even more. She thought she could hear laughter as she clung helplessly to the banister.

It didn't improve, either. Satano -- who had already found his sea legs, and had the strongest stomach on the face of the planet, the loser -- asked around for methods of curing seasickness, but found none. He shrugged apologetically when she asked if it could be cured with Waterbending. "Not that I've learned," he replied. "It's probably safer if I don't try."

She went below-deck when she was just dry retching. It seemed pointless to stay above, especially when the crew was snickering at her behind her back. Satano forced her to drink periodically so she didn't get dehydrated, but it only seemed to worsen her condition.

The first week at sea seemed to last a year.

Meldi had never appreciated land so much as she did when they made port. If she could hug the cobbles, she would have. If she could hug the _dock_ she would have. She made do by hugging Satano. He looked at her like she was mad, but she didn't care.

Then she pushed him off the dock when he told her they were only halfway to the Earth Kingdom.

The inn they stayed in was nice, and while the food wasn't great, Meldi wasn't very hungry anyway. About half the crew had come ashore, the rest kept to their cabins onboard the ship. The men had taken an obvious liking to Satano, but he acted as awkward and shy around them as ever. He looked like he had a heart attack when they offered him alcohol. Meldi, they avoided like the plague.

"Seasickness isn't contagious," she muttered over her tea, which had proven to be the only thing she could keep down. The crew was in a drunken mob on the other side of the commons.

"They think you're bad luck," Satano whispered. He shrunk sheepishly when she shot him a glare. "They said it, not me," he whimpered. "It's been a really hard passage, and some of them are superstitious about girls on ships. And then you were sick the whole time. They think you're a bad omen, Mel."

She jumped up angrily, just slowly enough that she didn't feel ill. "They think _they_ had it bad? _I'll _show them ba—"

"Mel, _no!_" he exclaimed, grabbing her arm and pulling her back to her seat. "They've been nothing but nice to us."

"To you, maybe."

"Says the girl who spent the trip below deck barfing," he murmured, just loudly enough that she could hear. Satano shifted uncomfortably when she didn't reply, finally hiding behind his glass with long drinks when he couldn't handle eye contact anymore.

Meldi sighed. He was right, of course. He always was, but she wasn't about to admit it. She changed the subject instead. "Why'd you come with me? I thought you liked the North Pole."

Satano muttered something into his glass that she didn't understand.

"Sorry?"

He looked away, flushing bright red. "I was scared," he said, his voice barely even a whisper.

"Scared? Of what?" She knew her friend was a scardy-cat – he jumped at his own Waterbending, sometimes, for goodness sake! – but something in the way he said it bothered her.

He shook his head fiercely. "Nothing. It's nothing. I... No, it, it's nothing. I-I don't want to talk about it," he stammered.

Meldi frowned, but didn't ask. Any other time, she would have pestered him until he told her, but something had obviously shaken him. She shouldn't force him to do anything when he was already freaking out so badly. He'd have to tell her sometime. It was as much her problem as it was his.

Satano was fingering the crescent moon embroidered into his jacket. It was an old custom, one that most of the chief's ignored, that those in the royal family wore that crest on their clothing. She had a tendency to forget he was a Prince. The look on his face said it was something he'd like to forget.

More reason not to bother him. If it was political, she wouldn't understand it, anyway.

But she was really, really curious.

She'd ask again later.

"So... Back on the ship tomorrow, huh? Hooray..." she said sarcastically.

Satano jumped in his seat; the topic change must have surprised him. "No," he said slowly. "We're walking the rest of the way."

"Walking? You said earlier we were on an island! Have you learned how to walk on water, 'cause I certainly haven't."

"It's a string of islands, Mel," he corrected. "They're close enough that people built bridges between them. The last is right by the mainland. No more ships," he added, when she looked confused.

"Really?"

"It'll take longer," he warned.

"No more bloody stupid boats..." Meldi said longingly. Hah! Take that, seasickness! She didn't have to put up with it anymore. Things were looking up already. "You've thought of everything, haven't you?" She never would have come up with all of this on her own: sneaking out of the North Pole, getting them passage on the ship – she still didn't know how he'd managed that one – and now getting to the mainland without the boat.

"I didn't expect to have to break you out of your own house," he admitted. "We should probably get some rest," he suggested, before she could complain that she hadn't been _trying _to get put under house arrest.

Meldi pouted. "We can't leave tonight?" The look on Satano's face said, _You're kidding, right? _"Fine," she sighed, standing up, "but we're leaving first thing in the morning, got it?" He waved indifferently. "I mean that!"

"Yes, ma'am," he laughed.

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**Okies, so not a lot happened in that chapter. .. My apologies. It was a bit of a filler – I had to get them off the boat and on the road, and it took a whole chapter to do it. Geez... **

**Much love to EE's Skysong! She is a handful... She's not getting much better, either, I'm afraid. **

Reviews make me happy. 8D 


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